'Raging Bull 2' Is Happening, Without Martin Scorsese Or Robert De Niro, Because Hollywood Hates Us All

Raging Bull is many things—uncompromising, vicious, beautiful, daring, funny, harrowing, and brilliant. Modern movie sequels tend to be, with very few exceptions, absolutely none of those things. So, of course, it makes sense that Hollywood would churn out a Raging Bull sequel 32 years after the original battered its way into celluloid history, and will be doing so without the two most pivotal elements that made the original so excellent—director Martin Scorsese and star Robert De Niro. So this should go well.

There have been rumors of a Raging Bull II since 2006, when the book of the same name by Chris Anderson, Sharon McGehee, and Jake LaMotta (the boxer who inspired the original film) “in order to provide a ‘companion piece’ to Martin Scorsese’s original.” And, according to /Film, the film is finally happening.

Director Martin Guigui will be helming the film from a script by himself and Rustam Branaman, with casting set to begin in June. Raging Bull II will concern “the early days of Jake LaMotta’s life, and then pick up again in the days after the end of Scorsese’s film.” Basically, all the unnecessary portions that weren’t needed in the original masterpiece—so we can look forward to Raging Bull II: The Excess Fat, Reheated.

How bad an idea is this? Well, Robert De Niro—who will now star in anything—will not be reprising his role of boxer Jake LaMotta. Instead, William Forsythe will be picking up the paycheck for the role.

Who knows where this will unnecessary sequelization of films where go—perhaps in 2014 we can look forward to The Second To Last Temptation Of Christ, Mean Streets II: Street Harder, or After After Hours.